Calvin Oftana. PBA IMAGES
MANILA, Philippines—TNT seems hell-bent on bouncing back from its disappointing setback in the PBA Philippine Cup Finals with the acquisition of rising star Calvin Oftana from NLEX in a proposed three-team trade.
Pending the approval of the league’s trade committee, the Tropang Giga will get Oftana and big man Raul Soyud from the Road Warriors, with the Blackwater Bossing serving as the other team in the multi-player deal.
NLEX, in return, will get rookie center Brandon Ganuelas-Rosser and injured guard Paul Desiderio from Blackwater while the latter is going to acquire versatile forward Troy Rosario and Gab Banal from TNT.
Once the deal gets the green light, Oftana is set to play under coach Chot Reyes, who included the former San Beda University standout in the Gilas Pilipinas during the recent Fiba World Cup Asian Qualifiers.
Oftana has risen into one of the PBA’s best forwards and averaged 17.0 points, 7.8 rebounds, 2.8 assists and 1.6 steals in 14 games for the Road Warriors last conference.
His move to the Road Warriors came more than a week after coach Yeng Guiao resigned and returned to the Rain or Shine Elasto Painters.
TNT had to part ways with Rosario, who was one of the team’s main players but struggled in the recent Philippine Cup Finals which saw San Miguel Beer winning the series in seven games.
Ganuelas-Rosser was the top pick in this year’s draft and is coming off his first conference in the big league, helping Blackwater reach the Philippine Cup quarterfinals.